Sites profit from `murderabilia'

A drawing by Charles Manson -- with swastikas and hearts in the background -- goes for $650. And a framed canvas of "Patches the Clown," painted by John Wayne Gacy, has a starting bid of $899.

The art of notorious killers can be found on the Internet, where various auction sites cater to those seeking something created by the criminally infamous.

Crime victims' families and critics say it's a disgusting way to make a buck and it needs to stop. But dealers and collectors say people have always been fascinated with serial killers and the Web sites are serving a need.

"Of course people are going to be against it. I understand that," said collector Merle Allin, 39, a New York bass guitarist with the underground punk band Murder Junkies. "But I have a right to collect what I want and to be into what I want. . . . I'm not promoting people going out and killing people."

But victims' family members don't want the killers getting any notoriety.

"This is what he wanted from the crime," said Dianna Hoyt, whose stepdaughter, Christa, was murdered by Rolling during his three-day rampage in Gainesville in 1990. "He wanted to become famous."

Many states have laws that prohibit inmates from profiting from art, books or any other depictions of their crimes. But those laws do little to stop others from profiting.

Some of the hottest items on sites recently belong to Rolling, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison near Starke at 6 p.m. today. He admitted to killing and mutilating four women and a man near the University of Florida campus in August 1990.

"Days before an execution, [dealers] come out in droves. They are capitalizing on the national publicity," said Andy Kahan, a Houston-based victims advocate who started speaking out against the practice of selling what he calls "murderabilia" in 1999.

On murderauction.com, eight items by Rolling -- ranging from a letter and envelope for a starting bid of $10 to a hand-drawn 9x12-inch self-portrait with a starting bid of $1,450 -- are up for sale. Another site -- supernaught.com -- had 22 pieces of Rolling's work along with handwritten letters by notorious (and now dead) serial killers Jeffrey L. Dahmer and Ted Bundy. The site also features a rosary that belonged to Gacy for $3,000.

"I love Danny's artwork," said Tod Bohannon, 29, an Atlanta-based collector who operates murderauction.com. "It's out of his head. That's one of the great things about it. It's all him."

Serial-killer enthusiasts used to turn to eBay to find artwork, letters and other belongings, including nail and hair clippings of famous killers. In 2001, the popular online auction site decided to ban items associated with felons who committed notorious killings.

Dealers seized on the opportunity and set up their own sites.

Tampa-based supernaught.com became the national source for murder memorabilia. Bohannon, who says he is training to be a Baptist pastor, set up muderauction.com -- where he and other dealers from around the country can sell their killer collections. They range from paintings to pencil drawings to mundane letters to locks of hair.

"I'm not saying what I do is right or wrong, but I still do it," Bohannon said. "They are not all bogeymen. If you have a chance to sit in front of them, it's interesting. The media make them out to be monsters, but they are people."

How collectors get the items varies. Some buy through a dealer. Others, such as Allin, write the killers directly and strike up a friendship. Through the years, he has sent Rolling money so the death-row inmate can buy items from the prison canteen.

Florida law prohibits convicted felons from making money from any depictions related to their crimes. But it doesn't stop others -- who are not acting on the felon's behalf -- from selling the items.

In 1998, a Florida judge ruled that money earned from accounts of Rolling's crimes, including the book The Making of a Serial Killer by Rolling and Sondra London, had to be turned over to the state.

Victims advocate Kahan -- who works in the Houston Mayor's Office of Crime Victims Division -- wants states to take it a step further. He plans to push for federal legislation that would prohibit anyone, associated with the killer or not, from selling any personal items created by incarcerated felons.

Hoyt agrees. It sickens her to think of anyone profiting from her 18-year-old stepdaughter's murder.